Olympic Games: Four Finally Pulling It All Together

Matthew Pinsent, with his three Olympic gold medals, cheerful Eton tones and a physique to make Greek statues cower, does not appear to be a man with something to prove in Athens this month.

Nor does his famous sidekick James Cracknell, the other survivor from Steve Redgrave's winning boat in Sydney that was cheered home by seven million ecstatic viewers four years ago.

But they do have a point to make. For it was their faltering form last year that led to the tearing asunder of the rowing team, Britain's most consistent medal winners since 1984, when Redgrave started his astonishing sequence.

"Matthew and I lost the right to do what we wanted as a pair when we came fourth in the world championships in Milan last year," Cracknell said beside Lake Aiguebelette, in the foothills of the Jura mountains in southern France. "I did think we could have won the pair but now I believe we can win the four."

Four men in a boat could be a sequel to Jerome K Jerome's famous tale, but without the laughs. For this is a story of heartache and illness, rejection and occasional triumph.

It started in February when Jürgen Grobler, Britain's chief coach, decided the best chance of gold in Athens would be to bring his crack pair of Pinsent and Cracknell into the coxless four, so chucking Ricky Dunn and Toby Garbutt overboard.

The new four would be Pinsent, Cracknell, Josh West and Steve Williams. Members of the four are traditionally tested in pairs trials. But, when these were held in April, Pinsent and Cracknell were unable to race because the former was ill, and West and Williams looked awful. The decision was made to draft in Alex Partridge, who had been outstanding in the pairs trials, at West's expense. Then at the first World Cup regatta in Poznan, Poland, in early May, Cracknell developed a rib injury and was replaced by the experienced Ed Coode.

The makeshift four came up trumps by beating Germany, the bronze medallists last year and world champions the year before. The first-choice four then reunited for the next World Cup event in Munich at the end of May and had qualified for the final when Cracknell went down with a heavy cold. He was replaced by a spare and they trailed in fifth.

Again the original crew were back together for the regatta at Lucerne, where they were beaten by the world champions Canada, which was no shock, but rather more surprisingly by a US four taken out of their eight. On returning home they discovered that Partridge had a collapsed lung. He was replaced by Coode, who by that time was established in the eight.

"It's not what we started with," Pinsent said, "but we've got to go out there and create our own history."

They have called their boat Alex Partridge, after their crew-mate who cannot be with them in Athens. "We were all devastated when Alex couldn't be with us," Pinsent said. "They were going to be his first games and it was going to be so special for us having him there and seeing him go through it all. Having said that, Ed is an exceptional replacement. He's easier going than the rest of us. He doesn't get too excited or too nervous. But he really produces on the water.

"Steve is quiet, too, while James gets worked up near race time. I'm laid back, they tell me. But I feel in the shape of my life. Mentally I feel relaxed and positive and on the rowing machine my marks are higher than ever."

"It's like music," according to the team manager David Tanner. "The four must perform individually but function together like a string quartet. The pair is a duo, a bit more obvious, while the eight is like an orchestra, which can be a bloody pain. They need a conductor, hence the cox.

"This is a very long-winded way of forming our four but we got there and they're looking good. Williams is the only member of the four surviving from the start of the year. But we have two of the winning Sydney four and three of the 1999 world championship four, when Coode rowed instead of Tim Foster. So, though it's been a very difficult season, these guys have raced and won a lot together. Every member of that four has been a world champion in a four boat."

The team flew from Geneva to Athens yesterday. "The feeling is that our training has gone very well, both our altitude work in Austria and our tapering camp, our final work, in France," Tanner added. "They haven't got much of a history, having won only once this year. But they're a class act and they can win in Athens. The main threat will come from Canada and Germany, followed by Slovenia and the US."

Pinsent, who is 33, is expected to retire after these games. Cracknell is likely to go on. Williams, the rock of the coxless four since its rebuilding in 2001, had planned to retire, like Coode, in 2000. But he was a spare part in Sydney that year and Coode and Greg Searle were beaten back into fourth. They all have something to prove.

"I don't doubt anyone's reasons in this team," said Coode. "I know how competitive James is and how he wants to prove a point. I know how competitive Steve is and I know how much Matthew wants his fourth gold medal. As for myself I feel I fluffed my chance last time and want to make up for it now."